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The Slowing is Discovered by Scientists: Introduction
While watching some Sunday night TV, Julia and her family get hit by a new discovery by scientists- the world's rotation is slowing down, and fast. On that exact night, the time it took for the Earth to turn was 24:57, with the cause unknown. "It's never the disasters you see coming that finally come to pass---it's the ones you don't expect at all." (253) -
The Eclipse: Rising Action
An eclipse, caused by the eccentric path of Earth's changing orbit, causes Julia's friend's mom to die when she can't see on the road and her car crashes. Also, the government tells everyone to keep calm, and tells them to stay on "Clock Time," while some people, mainly enviromentalists, stay on "Real Time," or the time the sun rises and falls. -
New Years Eve and the Syndrome
As the gravitational pull of the Earth is increasing, handling vehicles is becoming a major challenge. On the night of New Years Eve, Julia's mom accidently hits a person in a suicide cult, driven crazy by the day lengths. After this, she goes into a mental breakdown, which combined with the new gravitational strength, causes her to get "The Syndrome," which in her case, causes fainting, though others get vastly different effects. -
Period: to
The Radiation and the Magnetic Field: Falling Action
As the planet continues to slow down, reaching 50 hours, the "Dynamo Affect" of the core makes the magnetic field collapse, revealing the people of Earth to deadly radiation from the sun. Being outside during the day is a death sentence, causing massive sunburns, cancer, and even death in some cases. Julia's friend, Seth, is especially susceptable to this radiation, and he moves to mexico, where the radiation is said to be weaker, all while Julia's world is collapsing. -
The Explorer: Conclusion
As Julia is 23, and the days have stretched to weeks instead of hours, people are trapped perpetually inside homes, as the magnetic field has dissapated. The governments of the world decide to send a spacecraft, the Explorer, off into space, as a "Last dying breath of the human race." (268) -
How I calculated the dates
I calculated the dates by averaging out the time of the Earth''s orbit, as it is commonly stated at the end of chapters in the book. I also used landmarks, like new years and the start of school to help me. To find the final date, I used her final age and found the year difference between the last event of 2013 and the Explorer creation.
